


Like Father Like Son

by fell_on_black_days



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Post-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-17 18:40:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18104183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fell_on_black_days/pseuds/fell_on_black_days
Summary: Virgil and Dante have made it back from the underworld. Now Virgil owes his son some explanations.Post game 5 reunion fic concerning Nero's origins. May result in full blown origin fic, depending on response.





	Like Father Like Son

Nero sucked in a breath as he listened to Trish over the phone. “They’ve made it back. Meet us at the shop.” He was still holding the phone to his ear as the dial tone droned on across the connection. Dante was back. And so was his father. The thought of having a father still felt strange five months after Dante had dropped that bomb. He had gone over Vergil’s journal over and over again. 

Those pages had not been particularly revealing. They only filled in small gaps left by the explanation Lady and Trish had given him of Temen-ni-gru and Mundus’ attempt to revive himself in the human world. They had painted a picture of a man obsessed with power and a hatred for a brother that seemed to be favored by all others over him. It would have been pathetic if Vergil had not come so close to fucking over the world so many times.

Coming back to himself, Nero put away his cell as Kyrie entered the room. In the time since they left Fortuna, the once demure acolyte had changed in drastic ways while retaining her core aspects. Kyrie was no longer likely to let herself be guided by others. She stood taller and more confidently than before and eschewed her Order dress for more modern clothing. At the moment she wore a simple white T-shirt and blue jeans suitable for housework as today was the weekly designated day for house chores.

“That was Trish, wasn’t it?” she asked, one hand on the door frame and the other holding a dusting wand.

“Yeah. She says they made it back.” Nero said, blinking as he looked back to her. “Dante and my… my father.”

Kyrie sensed his discomfort much in the same way she had when he first called her and told her about Virgil. She moved to his side and buried her face in his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her. “I still don’t know how to handle that,” he said, almost in a whisper. “Twenty years looking for answers and now I have some and I’m not sure I like everything I see.”

Nero felt her hands slide up and down his spine as she soothed him, pausing along the same sections she rested them at when they were in bed. She turned her face so that her forehead was resting just beneath his chin before she spoke. “Do you want to talk to him?”

“Yes. No? I don’t know, Kyrie. First time I met the guy he ripped off my arm. The second time I had to kick his ass just to get him to act like a damn adult and stop throwing a tantrum about Dante. What kind of man just acts like that?” 

Kyrie leaned back to look into his eyes as she listened. “Maybe he’s incredibly lonely. It sounds like he was by himself for a long time. If I hadn’t had you after… after Credo I don’t know what I would have done. It doesn’t excuse anything he did. He’s honestly one of the only people I’ve ever wished violence on, especially after what he did to you. But you owe it to yourself to talk to him. You’ll regret it if you don’t.” She said all of this while tracing patterns on his chest through his shirt. 

He loved moments like this with her. No matter where his head was or what hole he’d fallen into she could always pull him out and give him steady ground to walk on. He nodded as she finished speaking and held her close. “I guess we should go see them then. Would you mind - “

“I’m coming with you, don’t worry,” she said before giving him a quick kiss. “I have a few things I need to say to those two, myself. Now let’s go tell Nico and pack. I’m sure she’ll be happy to pester your uncle some more.”

Nero watched Kyrie leave the room with a smile on his lips.  _ Damn I love that woman,  _ he thought to himself as he went back to the task he had set aside before the call. He recalled the small box he had hidden away in his side of the closet and smiled as he imagined the ring on her finger.

 

* * *

Virgil sat stiffly on his brother’s couch as he heard Trish hang up the phone. He thought over the person on the other end as he fiddled with Yamato’s sageo. While he was normally contemplative, it was unusual for him to be so withdrawn that his surroundings faded from focus. Too many years on the move had made that nearly impossible as his warrior’s instincts normally kept him sharp.

He had had time to talk with Dante during their trip back from the underworld about the boy. He recognized the rashness of youth that he had displayed in his teens, even if his acts of rebellion had been more of an internal game to keep him alive. He could understand the boy’s frustration at growing up virtually alone and was grateful that someone had taken him in, even if that someone had been part of an insane scheme to control the masses. 

What puzzled him the most, however, was the mention of the girl, Kyrie. His only dalliance may have lead to the boy’s conception, but it had ended in tragedy and stained his outlook on life. In his grief he had turned to the only remaining connection he had with the living and fueled his rivalry with Dante to a breaking point in raising Temen-ni-gru. He had thought that there was nothing left to him. Damn, but he had been foolish. In his obsession he had nearly destroyed the world, and the last remnant of the woman he had loved, twice and nearly driven his only son to hate him in turn. Now he saw his son just as in love as he had been.

He was not ashamed of his behavior, nor would he ever give an actual apology for it, but since learning of his relationship to Nero he had decided to atone to the boy.  _ I owe him twenty years of parenthood that he can never get back, _ he had thought to himself.  _ A debt such as this is not one easily paid.  _

Now Virgil sat in his brother’s shop contemplating the events leading up to his son’s very existence. He thought of long days on the run and of lost nights next to soft skin and hazel eyes.  _ Lydia, _ he thought as his heart wrenched,  _ I swear I will not waste this chance to know our son. _

 

* * *

It took three long days of driving for Nero, Kyrie, and Nico to make it to Redgrave City from their apartment on Fortuna. The entire time had consisted of Nico alternating between tinkering and bickering with Nero while Kyrie observed in amusement. The three of them had gotten close over the year they’d known each other and she viewed Nico as a sister. The group traveled well together after months of practice and the drive itself flew by until the final hours came. 

As they reached the city’s outskirts Nero became more and more withdrawn. Kyrie spent the last few minutes massaging his hands as she leaned against him in the back. Nero appreciated the effort and comfort of her touch as Dante’s shop drew nearer. He knew he would need every ounce of his strength for the next few hours.

 

* * *

Virgil paused mid-step as he heard a vehicle pull up outside. He braced himself, gripping Yamato’s hilt and taking a deep breath to calm his nerves.  _ I’ve killed hundreds of demons and survived years in hell. This reaction is beneath me. _ Even with his mental reassurances he had to fight down a mild panic as he heard the door open from the back room and his brother’s voice ring out.

“Hey kid! Good to see you brought everyone with you. Long time no see, Kyrie.”

That last bit made Virgil swear under his breath. He had expected Nero but not the girl. One person was awkward enough let alone a prospective daughter-in-law. He listened to the niceties and small talk exchanged between the group as a third voice asked Dante about any needs for his pistols in a hopeful tone. 

Virgil quietly turned the corner into the main office and almost flinched when a hush went over the room. In a rare moment of brotherly understanding, Dante ushered the other woman from the room as Nero shared a glance with the girl Virgil assumed to be Kyrie. He saw her smile at his son and squeeze his hand before retreating to wherever Dante had gone.

Nero turned to him and sighed as he said, “Good to see you… Father.”

Virgil let his hand fall from Yamato. “You must have questions,” he said numbly as he looked the boy over.

He was rewarded with a snort as Nero took started to pace about the room, “Bit of an understatement.”

Virgil nodded while he pressed his shoulders back. As he looked Nero over he took note of his features. He had Virgil’s coloring and general build. Their faces were damn near identical with exceptions in the boy’s chin and nose. Those he got from his mother. The thought of her brought back phantom pain from her loss as Nero pushed on.

“Did you know?” the boy asked as he snapped to a halt and looked him in the eye.

“No. Not until Dante told me.”

“What about my mother?” 

“I was not aware that she had been pregnant.”

“Was it before or after you decided to fuck everyone over by raising Temen-ni-gru?” Nero spat out, his eyes flashing red for a moment.

“Before. I only decided to work with Arkham after she… I thought she was gone.” 

Nero caught his father’s wince with those last words. “I did some digging before the Order went to shit. Medical records say she died shortly after I was born. She’d been on life support for about six months before.” He didn’t know when his voice had lost its edge, only that he wasn’t as angry as he thought he would be. “What was she like?”

He watched as Virgil turned away and leaned on the desk. “She was… she was the only woman I knew who would give broken men second chances the way she did.”

Nero didn’t know what to say to that. “I wish I could’ve met her.”

“As do I.” Virgil straightened and turned to face his son as he continued. “I see some of her in you. You have her nose and her chin. A bit of her spirit as well. I think she would have been proud to call you her son.”

Nero blinked heavily as he forced back tears. Whether Virgil knew it or not, his son had always craved love and acceptance. He’d always wondered why he was alone and as a child he had blamed himself, citing perceived inadequacies. The children had taunted him, calling his mother a whore who had discarded him as an inconvenience. Finding out about her had meant everything to him as a young teen. “Thanks, I guess,” he said lamely. “What was her name?”

He watched as his father closed his eyes in pain and rested his hand on his sword. “Lydia. Her name was Lydia.”


End file.
